Gautier Koffi Amoussou

Identifying the Focal Landscape for Hippo Conservation in Mono Basin, Benin

Town/RegionCountryCategoriesDate
Mono BasinBeninAfrica, Mammals28 Nov 2005

In Benin Republic, the hippo population in Mono River Basin is split into small isolated groups from single to one hundred individuals. These small populations are vulnerable to catastrophes, such as drought or a surge in poaching, as well as to genetic problems resulting from risk of inbreeding so that the current prospects for their long-term survival must give cause for concern.

Habitat loss has been identified as the factor that most threatens hippos survival. Farmers increasingly transform the natural landscape by clearing wetlands habitat for agriculture. Hippos, while tolerant of human disturbance to some degree, are unable to survive when the natural habitat becomes dominated by farmland and fisheries.

It is actually imperative that hippo’s habitat requirements are understood and identified, so that land and wetlands can be managed both for conservation and human activities (agriculture and fisheries).

For more information contact gk_amoussou@yahoo.fr or see their website http://hippobenin.gq.nu

Project Update: March 2006

We have produced some data and maps in French in order to facilitate the community-based lectures and meetings which will be conducted in April 2006.

Some of the main maps produced are attached here.

We have already identified the biological landscape of hippos.

This is mapped in A0 format (Map 1) and detailed in each main area (Maps 3). A draft of the map of the human landscape is also available in A0 format (Map 2). We are currently working in the field to achieve this Map 2 (in A0 format). After that we will intersect the “biological landscape” of hippos and the “human landscape” to define the focal landscape that assures the maintenance of the target hippo’s population. Field verification works will follow this before we produce the final report.

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Progress Report391 KB

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